Schroder Investment Management Group Lowers Position in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Schroder Investment Management Group lowered its stake in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 398,366 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 17,083 shares during the quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group owned about 0.28% of AvalonBay Communities worth $86,880,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,245,028 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,097,971,000 after acquiring an additional 196,938 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in AvalonBay Communities in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,499,050,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,590,539 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,009,781,000 after purchasing an additional 27,629 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 1.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,060,497 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $914,627,000 after buying an additional 55,588 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 0.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,585,802 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $805,113,000 after buying an additional 27,988 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Performance

Shares of AVB opened at $213.50 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $30.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.00. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 52-week low of $177.40 and a 52-week high of $239.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $217.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $222.39.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.83 by ($0.03). AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 9.15% and a net margin of 37.13%. Research analysts predict that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.75 per share. This is a positive change from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.28%. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 92.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on AVB shares. Truist Financial increased their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $229.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Mizuho raised shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $239.00 to $242.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $230.00 to $226.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $270.00 to $265.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $247.00 to $262.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $238.64.

AvalonBay Communities Company Profile

AvalonBay Communities, Inc is a real estate investment trust, which engages in the development, acquisition, ownership, and operation of multifamily communities. It operates through the following segments: Same Store, Other Stabilized, and Development or Redevelopment. The Same Store segment refers to the operating communities that were owned and had stabilized occupancy.